Why the absence of trade union solidarity in front of the cut in daily minimum wage?

As expected, the decrease of the daily minimum wage by LBP 4000 which came into effect more than a month ago (c.f. lkdg.org/ar/node/15416) did not stir any objections by Lebanese workers’ trade union. This matter which came into effect in 2012 and until the request for its modification in 2014, is consideration an acquired right.  As such, the cut in the daily wage constitutes a harsh measure affecting workers of Lebanon especially since it does not take into account the increase in the cost of living that Lebanon has witnessed over the past four years.  As indicated in earlier news, 10.2% of the Lebanese labor force toil as daily laborers according to the CAS statistics of 2009.  Researchers nevertheless believe that the proportion of daily laborers is far higher especially that many of those categorized as self-employed are in fact daily laborers. Furthermore, the largest proportion of Syrian and Palestinian workers in Lebanon are daily laborers in the fields of agriculture, construction, and low-skilled services.  The Communist Party (LCP) was the only one to issue a communiqué condemning this decision while repeating the view point earlier expressed by former Minister Charbel Nahhas. In a statement released last Friday, the LCP noted that “this decision targets the poor and most disenfranchised of workers in Lebanon”.  According to the same communiqué, this decision is considered to be an unprecedented form of oppression in the history of wage labor.  The CP communiqué noted that the “argument put forward that the decision was made to correct a previous mathematical error is a pure fallacy”.  The communiqué further describes the new way of calculating the daily wage as being unfair and lacking legal justification compared to the formula used in 2012.  This, according to the same source, is a discriminatory and unfair decision, based on two different labor situations. (Al Diyar 23 July, 2016)